WITH NEW ARTISTIC director Alexei Ratmansky at the helm, and a slew of fresh young talent in the principal ranks, the Bolshoi Ballet is understandably eager to show the world a modern face for the 21st century. Unfortunately, their raw and audacious new production of "Romeo and Juliet," which opened the company's five-day run at Zellerbach Hall this week, is surely not the right vehicle.

British theater director Declan Donnellan brings more than a few intriguing theatrical ideas to the ballet's staging, but choreography is clearly not his strong suit. Indeed, he left most of the actual composition of steps to Moldovan choreographer Radu Poklitaru. But the stilted, often juvenile choreography at Wednesday's opening is simply not worthy of the quality dancers at their disposal.

The layers of political and familial conflict have been largely stripped from this production, leaving only the barest bones of the story behind, so it is up to the charismatic Maria Alexandrova as Juliet and Denis Savin as Romeo to carry the ballet, which they do with bravura.

The technically brilliant Alexandrova, promoted to principal a few months ago, was already a star in the making at the Bolshoi's last appearance here in 2002. She and Savin share an ability to adapt to Poklitaru's modern idiom -- a low center of gravity, heavy swinging movement and often grotesque positions -- that sets them apart from the rest of the corps of dancers. Actually, the lanky, 20-year-old Savin remains in the corps, even though he's dancing a lead role, another sign of fresh attitudes in the once rigidly hierarchical company.

The weakness of the choreography is evident in Donnellan's and/or Poklitaru's penchant for distributing the dancers in interesting patterns with little regard for how they get there. The notion of a chorus that morphs fluidly from a crowd at the ball into a garden wall is not particularly new, although done effectively here. But while the tableau that the groups form are often visually striking, the actual movements into and out of these pictures show no understanding of choreographic line or musicality.

Tremolos in the score, which translate into nervous St. Vitus' Dance tics and the crablike scuttling from one side to the other, make it look as if no one could think of a better way to move a person from point A to point B. Many of the group dances are reminiscent of Ricki Lake doing "The Roach" in "Hairspray"; in fact, several scenes look like they're set at a high school hop, albeit one filled with stunningly good-looking, very balletic kids.

Playing Mercutio, Yuri Klevtsov steals almost every scene he's in, whether in Roaring Twenties drag or a Don Johnson white suit and black T-shirt. His brash authority and powerful jumps recall Mikhail Lavrovsky, the former Bolshoi star who now coaches him, and whose father created the original 1940 "Romeo and Juliet" for the company.

Also notable were Denis Medvedev as a smarmy, short-fused Tybalt; and Alexander Petukhov, portraying Friar Laurence, as an equally smarmy faith healer.

The dancers are accompanied by the Bolshoi Theater's excellent orchestra, under the baton of Pavel Klinichev. They offer a beautifully rich reading of Sergei Prokofiev's score, which can still send chills up the spine, even though Donnellan has taken serious liberties with its logic, rearranging sequences throughout the ballet and often undercutting the emotional build of the music.

Despite the hubbub over the new "Romeo and Juliet," Ratmansky has hastened to reassure fans of the Bolshoi that modernization will not mean abandoning the company's classical heritage. They return to the more familiar opulent grandeur of the 19th century with "Raymonda," which runs through Sunday.